‘Improvement in retail sales’

Press, 10 December 1982, Page 10

‘Improvement in retail sales’

Retail sales, which have been at a low ebb since the Budget, are showing signs of improving, according to the vice-president of the Retailers' Federation, Mr I. J. Halsted. of Dunedin. “The sales position at the end of October was not good, but reports for November trading show that trading has eased compared with November last year, which was not a bad month," he said. Official figures for retail trading for November are not yet available. Mr Halsted said that he believed the improved trading in November had also carried forward into December. The tax cuts, which took effect in October, had not been used for retail purchasing, but had apparently been used to pay off long-term debts, hire-purchase agreements, and in savings. "This would indicate that the money is there for buoyant Christmas trading. Last year the big Christmas spending spree came late. I have a feeling we will see that pattern again, -.-this Christmas,” said Mr Halsted. He did not agree with the view put forward last month

by the Leader of the Opposition, Mr Rowling, that wage and salary earners needed to have a wage order granted to boost spending power. “My feeling is that there is an underlying strength in the economy and that the recent spate of redundancies has resulted in the tap being turned off on retail spending, and that this will ultimately result in more redundancies. So people have to keep up normal spending. If they do not it will put more pressure on jobs, because retailers will not be able to restock from manufacturers in the New Year,” he said. Retailers supported closer economic relations with Aus : tralia. Mr Halsted said he did not believe that C.E.R. would result in New Zealand manufacturers closing and reverting to importing because of inability to compete with Australian manufacturers. “At present New Zealand manufacturers are very efficient and are exporting to Australia. I believe Australian manufacturers are more worried about their New Zealand counterparts and their effect on the Australian market than we are about

them. Mr Halsted said that consumer spending on retail items was lower a head in New Zealand than in either Australia or the United States and one of the reasons was that there was a “lack of excitement” in New Zealand shops. C.E.R. would help redress that problem of a lack of variety because it would provide a wider source of merchandise and therefore generate more sslcs. This did not mean that retailers supported a wholesale switch to importing, because retailers realised that New Zealand manufacturers did a good job. It was essential that they retained their employment because it was those employees who supported retailers through consumer spending. Asked if consumers would benefit from C.E.R. through lower prices, Mr Halsted said that while the actual distribution of gains from C.E.R. would vary from store to store, the over-all effect of C.E.R. would be a more competitive market place. C.E.R. would help stabilise, if not lower, the prices of finished products, he said.